There are two currencies in our life. One is cash, which we all know so effectively, and the opposite is time. Right now’s technology particularly dabbles with each, whereas generations passed by devoted their lives to the first quest of cash and cash alone. That one foreign money that brings all of it in. The thought was easy. Cash should buy all of it, so go after it. Cash is consolation sweet.
What’s totally different now? We reside within the midst of a technology that worships two gods within the foreign money market. It is a technology that believes within the worth of time as effectively. And this technology appears to have gotten it proper. There’s a fallacy within the chase of 1 foreign money, primarily cash. Cash may be earned and topped up, whereas time (the brand new treasured foreign money to chase) can’t. Time can solely be spent, whereas cash may be earned and spent as effectively.
The long run seems to be much more fascinating. Whereas immediately’s shopper values each money and time with a point of yin and yang fairness, tomorrow’s shopper is more likely to worth yet one more than the opposite. And the stability appears to be tilted in the direction of time.
Take a chunk of analysis I’ve simply emerged from. This isn’t a analysis train that has concerned pure and overt shoppers alone. It has explored the gentle shopper as effectively. The non-consumer, even. This train covers a complete of 18,450 individuals all throughout India, elements of Southeast Asia, the UK, Turkey and a complete new constituency in my analysis that I name the “Virtuaworld”. Virtuaworld is all concerning the new shopper who’s on digital platforms. It is a shopper who can reside wherever on this planet, however behaves similar to some other on this medium. The Utopian shopper. I deal with the Virtuaworld shopper as a digital geography of its personal.
This examine covers homemakers, tech employees, gig employees, everlasting job holders, college students, and 7 different classes of curiosity, together with a really small pattern dimension of intercourse employees. The important thing level we tried to eke out of this analysis train was how necessary time is to all of them versus cash in 2021. And the important thing reply that we bought was one which should jolt many a house, many a enterprise and lots of a authorities company that takes care of the welfare of its individuals. In 2021, individuals all throughout these geographies worth time greater than cash. When pushed to assume, the worth of time is rated 61% necessary versus the apparent foreign money of cash at a less-robust 39%.
All of us actually comprehend it. There’s apparent foreign money in our lives, issued by the central banks of nations, after which there may be the unobvious foreign money that’s issued out by our lifespans. Whereas each currencies stay relatively unpredictable to accumulate, hoard and handle, I do imagine the function of the unobvious foreign money of time is about to rise. The period forward of us, if not the one we reside in immediately, is all about time, its utility, saving, harvesting and worship. The one massive shopper motion I see forward is the motion that may need to hoard time versus cash. The homemaker will need to assess and plan how she is going to use her time simply as a lot because the overt shopper will need all companies she or he interacts with to take action for her. Time is the super-currency of our lives.
If we do settle for this, cash loses its pre-eminent standing on our company stability sheets abruptly. Sure, it’s a good and customary metric to measure success or failure with, however there’s a extra necessary god to worship at our doorstep: the god of time. Companies of each variety whether or not you’re a milk vendor, magnificence parlour, gymnasium, restaurant, telecom service supplier or monetary providers participant have to rejig their choices retaining the foreign money of time in thoughts. Most companies you and I work together with are all primarily based on the apparent foreign money of cash. You go to a store and there’s a low cost on the pack of espresso you might be about to purchase. Companies of the long run have to releverage their advertising and gross sales promotion efforts to worship the second god. Saving time is rising to be extra necessary than saving cash.
Know-how, then, and companies that leverage expertise are on the fitting and quick monitor sooner or later. Know-how is a time-saving good friend. Know-how and each piece of software program as a service (SaaS) and app you utilize is doing simply this. The tech enterprise of each variety is subsequently on monitor to be in clover. Time clover.
Are there threats to some companies? What about these of leisure and sport that simply gobble up each little bit of time there may be? Watching an IPL match at a stadium or throughout the confines of your private home or restaurant is probably gobbling up three hours of your time (and let’s not converse of cricket of the one-day and five-day variety). In case you are watching it within the stadium, you is likely to be spending Rs 900, and in-home it seems to be like you might be spending subsequent to nothing. However assume. You’re really spending Rs 900 and three hours on the stadium and probably the identical variety of hours and subsequent to nothing inside dwelling.
Is the sports activities and leisure business in for a little bit of stress as individuals begin valuing their time greater than cash? This appears distant, however then, is it actually?
Each enterprise thus must releverage its choices retaining the god of time in thoughts versus the god of cash alone as within the good previous days. Within the unhealthy new days, each enterprise must placed on its stability sheet, and certainly in its DNA, a complete new foreign money known as time.
Harish Bijoor
Model Guru & Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults